2025 Youth Poetry Contest

THIS YEAR’S POETRY CONTEST: AN  INSPRIATIONAL AND EDUCATTIONAL EXPIRIENCE

For over twenty-three years, The New Self-Help Foundation has been dedicated to nurturing young voices, fostering creativity, and building inclusive spaces where diverse perspectives are celebrated. Our workshops, led by accomplished poets and mentors, offer valuable skill-building opportunities, while the annual contest finals provide youth with a platform to showcase their talents and gain recognition.

Through our arts and educational programs, we have organized workshops in songwriting, photography, dance, and video documentary production. We’ve also hosted creative writing competitions in areas such as journalism, speech writing, critique writing, poetry, and playwriting, encouraging critical thinking, cultural awareness, and purposeful creativity.

JC Connor, CEO of the New Self-Help Foundation, shared:

“This years Youth Poetry Contest provides a powerful way to raise awareness and inspire creative solutions. It gives young people the chance to express their deepest thoughts and engage with poetry through reading, writing, and performance. Poetry nurtures language development, emotional expression, and imagination while promoting empathy, cultural understanding, and critical thinking. It truly has the power to inspire and transform.”

For a nation to succeed, it must cultivate the creative imagination of its youth. Creativity defines who we are, and critical thinking shapes who we become. When young people are encouraged, they become the authors of new ideas and works that drive change.

Through the arts and poetry, we continue to chart a brighter path for our community, empowering youth to reach their full potential and contribute to a vibrant, creative economy.

Art education fosters essential skills such as creativity, communication, problem-solving, and resilience, key to academic, personal, and professional success. It enhances engagement and well-being, builds confidence and self-expression, and offers valuable insights into history and culture, deepening empathy and understanding.

By centring creativity in education, we enrich learning, strengthen communities, and prepare the next generation to meet the future with imagination, empathy, and purpose. We thank the Youth Services Unit for their contribution.

Winners

Ist -  Ikenna Eleweanya 

2nd -  Brittany Bailey

3rd - J-Mar Clark

Readers can view the Poetry Contest Final by clicking the following Radio Cayman Talk Today link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mlu281BU9M